Majesty: The Northern Expansion

"The expansion pack to Majesty adds so many features to the game, that you may just think it’s a pure sequel."

In my honest opinion, Majesty was one of the best RTS games I have ever played, so when I heard that a sequel was coming out, I naturally got excited. The announcement of an expansion pack was truly shocking, considering the fact that the original game did not fair so well. So Majesty: The Northern Expansion finally reached the stores, but did it really enhance Majesty to the full extent?

Majesty: The Northern Expansion is more of a sequel rather than an expansion pack. The original levels are back, but the expansion features are not present in the original levels. This was quite shocking considering the fact the term expansion will give the buyer a sense that the current levels in the game will be expanded. With a slight disappointing at my grasp, I decided to try the new expansion levels to see what they truly offered.

The first thing I noticed was the arctic style theming the new levels used. (Hence the title the Northern Expansion.) Arctic based monsters are featured, such as Yetis, and arctic based objectives are now present. I did however find the theming a bit boring at times, and did wish for a change after seeing around 10 levels with almost the same exact terrain.

The gameplay in Majesty is what truly won over its fans, and you will be greatly pleased to know that the winning combination of RTS and RPG elements have been successfully brought back, and all the goodness of leveling up, and upgrading equipment has returned, however you still have no unit control other than the use of reward flags. The old spells and guilds are back, but there are 6 new spells in the game, however, these spells are not from guilds, and are often hard to use/useless. One great new feature in the game is the use of elixirs. Elixirs are potions that temporarily grant the user a boost in a certain stat, or invulnerability for a short amount of time. The use of these potions greatly affect the gameplay and force you to think totally differently from the original game. Some missions also no longer have the use of a castle, but instead a smaller version of a castle. These smaller versions have much less HP than the usual castle, and require you to change your usual game strategy. Overall,it's pretty much the same old game with a few changes, but of course, that's not a bad thing.

The graphics are back, with crisp looking terrain, stunning water affects, and very nice looking spells. The same creature detail has been put back in, making the game much more delightful to play. One thing I noticed was the added detail to buildings, which was thought to be an impossibility since the original game had some of the best building graphics ever seen in a RTS game. So just like the original, the graphics are absolutely perfect, and it would be hard to ask for more.

The awesome music, sound effects, and voice acting is back, and really make the game have a true mid-evil feeling to it. Better sound level adjustments were also added, which is a big sigh of relief since the original game's sound levels were hard to control. Some new voice actors are back, and a few of the old ones returned. The catchy little tunes the game offered have returned, and are guaranteed to get stuck in your head after a while. So it looks like Hasbro kept up to date in this department once again, and really deliver an audio experience yet to be felt in most modern games.

Well, the gameplay, graphics, and sound live up to their name, but how about a gamer looking for a challenge? Well, you're sure to find it here. It was almost a blessing to find out that the original game's levels are back and un-altered. The new levels are far from easy, in fact they're soul-crushing! A beginner to the RTS genre will find it just plain hard to tackle some of the expansion levels, and expert fans of the series will find themselves trying the expert quests a few times before actually succeeding. The new quest difficulty called Master Quests truly re-define the word hard, and make you wonder if completing the quest is even possible. So another-wards, beginners to the RTS genre may want to think twice before picking up the expansion pack.

Okay, so you pretty much have an idea on how the expansion pack works, but what about the great multi-player featured in the original game? Well, don't fear, because it's back and better than ever. Multi-player is used through a free program called GameSpy Arcade. Like the original game, up to four people can play, and you can play with the expansion pack features either turned on, or turned off. I was impressed with the very little lag present, and when I mean little lag, I mean little lag. I was playing in a 4-player game on a 28.8 k modem, and almost no lag was present. So for a great multi-player experience look no further.

While we're on the subject of returning features, I feel this will be a good time to talk about the return of freestyle games. Like the original game, these games are accessible through the bottom of the quest selection map. These games are self set, and can be as easy, or as difficult as you wish it to be. The only objective you have in freestyle games is to destroy dens and build a kingdom. Although it may seem like fun to most (and it is), you just expect more. I really hoped that the expansion pack would allow the user to set objectives in freestyle games, however it did not. Despite this fact, freestyle games are a great way to practice, and will keep you entertained when the levels just get to repetitive for you.

I guess the least important part about a RTS game should be saved for near the end, so now I'll talk a little bit about the story line. The side story lines are back, and like the original, no one main story line is present. This was quite disappointing, because I really wanted to see a main plot present. I really try to look past this category on RTS games, but it truly disappointed me, because this is probably the only category preventing this game from getting a perfect score. However, the side-stories are much more interesting than the original game's side stories were, so I guess a little bit of rejoicing can be done.

How long can someone truly enjoy this game though? Well, a pretty dang long time if I do say so myself. If the amount of hours I spent playing this game were added to science, then the periodic table would have an extra 50 elements. Many of my close friends have also had lots of hours on this game, and don't regret even a second of it.

After boring you to death, I think it's about time for the section most people jump right to anyway: the scores.

Gameplay 10/10
Story Line 6/10
Graphics 10/10
Sound 9/10
Multiplayer 9/10
Replay Value 10/10

A score will be given on the pros and cons in the game, this score will be called the Tilt. If there are more pros than the Tilt will be high, if there are more cons, than expect the score to be low. This will help achieve a more accurate final rating.

Your Kingdom Prospers Your Majesty!
+ Great Gameplay
+ Great Graphics
+ Great Music & Sound
+ Easy To Learn
+ Almost A Sequel Rather Than A Sequel
+ Great Multi-Player
+ Beautiful Theming
+ Lots Of New Enemies
+ New Spells

Do You Wish To Do Some Research Your Majesty? (Neutrals)
O Side Stories Take The Place Of One Main Plot

Your Majesty, The Kingdom Is Under Attack!
- No Unit Control
- Some Quests Are Almost Too Hard
- Freestyle Games Don't Allow You To Set Actual Objectives
- Original Quests Are Unaffected By The New Features
- No New Guilds
- Theming Is Too Repetitive
- Not Enough Weapon Upgrades Available

Final Tilt Score 8/10

In the end, Majesty: The Northern Expansion is a modest investment (Costing around half the price of the original game.) that lives up to the name the original Majesty started. The combination of RTS and RPG elements really keeps the game original, and very addictive. Beginner RTS gamers should go elsewhere due the large amount of difficulty the expansion pack offers, however, if you're a beginner RTS gamer, but a fan of the original Majesty then the game will definitely not disappoint. Okay, think you're good enough to handle a really difficult, but really fun game? Well then head out to your local game store and pick up a copy of Majesty: The Northern Expansion!

Overall Final Grade For Majesty: The Northern Expansion (not an average) 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/03, Updated 05/04/09

Game Release: Majesty: The Northern Expansion (US, 03/22/01)